Best Friends After All
by Celeste-poet
Summary: Serena has always thought Raye hated her...until she finds out the hard way that it wasn't true. Set after the Stars season. One-shot.


It was a dark and stormy night. No really, it was—bullets of rain drops crashed into the roof of the Tsukino residence as a young blonde girl dug through her room.

A cat with a crescent moon on her forehead entered the room. "Serena, what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to look for my diary, Luna. You haven't seen it have you?" the girl said, rummaging through her things.

"Um…well…" Luna tried not to look guilty. "Serena, you know, if you just cleaned your room, you would find things better."

"Luna…" Serena turned around and stared at the cat. "You read it, didn't you?"

"I…uh…well, you know, I am your personal confidante. I feel a little outraged that you would confide to a stupid book instead of me!" Luna admitted.

"Luna! Those are my personal thoughts! You can't just dig through it and invade my privacy!"

"Well, it was only mostly about Tuxedo Mask anyways," Luna said with a chuckle.

Serena rolled her eyes. "You don't get it. Don't go through my stuff. Please," she said with a flush in her cheeks.

"All right, well, you need to get to bed. It's almost midnight as it is."

"But where is my diary?"

Luna sweatdropped and held out her paw. "It's just over there."

"Thank you."

As Serena reached down to pick up the diary, a beep came in on the communicator. "Scouts? Hello?"

"That sounds like Artemis," Luna remarked.

Serena sighed and picked up her communicator. "What's up?"

"Hey, there's a strange monster over near the park area. Venus and I are checking it out and would like backup," Artemis's voice replied.

"Okay. On my way," Serena said. She sighed. "Guess I'll write later…Moon Eternal! Make-up!" Feathers and wings surrounded the young girl. Spinning in glorious ecstasy (it was so much fun to transform), she finished her henshin and headed out the window.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Raye Hino was observing the patterns in the fire, so wrapped up that she barely noticed the call on the communicator. Upon hearing what was occurring, Raye stood up and called out, "Mars Crystal Power!" Circles of flames surrounded her, and once she finished her henshin, she took one last look into the fire. Something told her that this was not going to be an ordinary battle, that one of her friends would be in mortal danger. But which one?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

"Venus Love and Beauty Shock!" Stars of light and love erupted from the love senshi, nearly blinding her enemy. The monster had turned out to be an ancient water dragon, disturbed from its sleep. It had laid dormant for many years until something had apparently disturbed it. It was at least 30 feet long and its mouth was taller than most people. It was blue with black fins and had several rows of teeth. It was wingless and had no legs, but moved swiftly in the night.

"Venus! Watch out!" cried out a concerned Artemis.

She ducked out of the water of a stream of water from the dragon's mouth. "Artemis, go somewhere safe!"

"I don't want to leave you!"

Venus opened her mouth to reply, but turned and saw the dragon headed straight towards her. Picking up Artemis, she ran for her life.

"Stop right there, monster!" An all-too familiar blonde scout arrived on the scene. Interested by the sound of another victim, the dragon turned its ugly head towards her. "I am Sailor Moon, the champion of justice! On behalf of the moon, I shall punish you!"

Sailor Mars appeared on the scene. "How are you going to punish this kind of monster? Just dust it and be gone with it!" she told her.

"Stop being so mean, Mars!" The two of them glared daggers. "You know I always tell off the enemy before I attack!"

"It's a stupid dragon fish. Like he understands," the fire scout retorted.

Behind her, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Jupiter appeared. "Well, at least it's not raining anymore. Where are the other scouts?" Sailor Moon asked.

"Amara and Michelle said they might not make it here…when I talked to them, it sounded like they were out of breath for some reason…" Sailor Jupiter mused.

Sailor Venus ran over to them with Artemis. "Thank goodness you're here…I was afraid Arti here would be fish meat for sure."

Luna appeared from behind the bushed and smirked at her feline friend. "I don't think that fish is tuna, Artemis. You can't just eat him." Artemis scowled.

"Come on girls, let's get rid of this fish!" Sailor Jupiter shouted. "Jupiter Oak Evolution!" Razor sharp leaves flew from her as she spun around. They struck the large beast, but it did not appear to slow it down.

"Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!" A harp of water played by Sailor Mercury spurted jets of water to the dragon fish, but it seemed to reenergize it rather than hurt it. "Hmm…perhaps water won't work on this monster…" she mused.

"My turn! Mars Sniper!" A flame of fire shot from Sailor Mars's bow and struck the large blue beast. It roared in agony and slithered its way toward her.

"Hey, fish-head! Take this!" Sailor Moon raised her wand. "Silver Crystal—" But before she could finish her attack, the tail of the dragon came up and knocked her off her feet. "Aiieeee!"

"Sailor Moon!" the other scouts cried out. The dragon turned around and headed towards the scared moon scout.

"Help!" she cried, paralyzed by fear.

Mars ran as fast as she could, shooting fire arrows as she went. Just when monster opened its jaws to take a bite, Mars pushed Sailor Moon out of the way, and the dragon ate her.

"No way….Mars!" Sailor Moon cried. "Give me back my friend! Silver Crystal Starlight Blast!" she desperately shouted. A light ray of blinding brightness struck the monster, instantly disintegrating it. "Mars?" Sailor Moon ran over to check on her friend, who was lying on the ground where the belly of the dragon had been. The other scouts ran over.

A very hurt and weak Mars looked at them all. "Hey guys…"

"Mars? Don't you dare leave me!" Sailor Moon threatened. Her face softened. "Why did you save my life?"

"Because…I had to…you're our Princess…and our friend…" the fire scout muttered weakly.

"But I thought you hated me."

"No, Serena…I don't. I only have ever loved you." Then Sailor Mars's body seized up, and she breathed no more.

"No…" Sailor Moon bent over her friend's body and held her close.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

It had been an even longer night than expected. Carrying Raye's body, explaining to her grandfather what happened, losing a sailor scout….it was a lot to take in. Serena snuck in through her window and collapsed on her bed.

She spotted her diary and opened it. Grabbing a pen, she wrote,

_Dear Diary,_

_Today we lost the best fighter among us. Raye was a powerful friend, not only as Sailor Mars, but in her human form as well. I thought she hated me, and I used to even be jealous that she could sometimes see the future in flames. Now I know differently. She cared so much about me that she gave up her life to save mine._

She paused, wiped away her tears, and then kept writing.

_Raye was a true and loyal friend, right up until the end. If there was anything I could do to bring her back, I would do it in a heartbeat. I know life goes on, but it's so hard to let go._

_Today will forever be in memory of my dear friend and ally. If only I could have told her that I cared just as deeply about her._

_Sincerely,_

_Tsukino Serena_

She folded the book together and hid it under her dresser. Turning off the lights, she sat at her bed and gazed at the stars, wondering if the firestar she saw was who she thought it was.


End file.
